We like using our Phillips drawer style air fryer for reheating leftovers and cooking vegetables. However, it seems to have a Teflon or other non-stick coating which we prefer not to have in our kitchen.
Without getting into debates about nonstick coatings, can anyone recommend an air fryer with no nonstick? We would prefer all stainless interior and also prefer the drawer style.
However, we’d consider the toaster oven style air fryer as well if no nonstick coatings inside.
We’ve researched a lot of them but it’s tricky because some have a stainless cooking tray but also have a silver colored coating of nonstick on the inner surface of the cooking chamber presumably for ease of cleaning splatter since these surfaces shouldn’t really ordinarily contact food.
The Ninja toaster oven-style works well, but if you’re going to have one one such appliance, it’s too shallow imo (meaning baking dishes that fit in normal countertop ovens don’t have height clearance).
The Breville is a better alternative for the same idea, as is the Cuisinart.
If you have an instant pot, you can also try the air fryer lid for that.
I just got the Breville Air Fryer Pro; it’s huge. I haven’t used the air fryer function yet, but since the air fryer baskets aren’t Teflon, I got some parchment liners for them. I’ve used parchment liners in my mini air-fryer, they work great.
I had a regular, first generation Breville that was still going strong, but the door hinge broke and it wouldn’t stay closed. So I got the big one. The old one is in a box; I subsequently have received a door spring for it. I have instructions for the repair. You must first remove 32 screws. I’ll save the project for a blizzard this winter. I did use a steel connection basket (aftermarket; not Breville’s) in the old oven. It works, just hard to clean. Hence my later discovery of the air-frying parchment sheets.
Yes, cleaning is harder than average. I have resigned myself to just going straight to dish soap and steel wool. The tray now looks horrid, but at least the bottom is clean (ish).
I’m not sure any of these are free of nonstick coatings.
Teflon free is a good start, but I’m under the impression that the other nonstick coatings such as “ceramic” are also plastics and also bad for the environment and potentially a health hazard.
I do agree that I’m probably taking a chance, when using my highly beloved ceramic non stick pans.
We may never know for certain whether they are risk free or not.
A lot of things indicate they most likely are not risk free to produce unfortunately.
I won’t go into a deeper discussion over it, but I understand all the people who are nay sayers to non stick cookware.
I simply just find my ceramic non stick pans so fantastic for certain specific tasks, that I’ll continue to use them accepting the health risk.
It’s also risky to live in the city with all the gasoline and diesel pollution in the streets from the cars.
But I love to live in the city (Copenhagen)
I also highly doubt using my also beloved carbon steel pans is totally risk free and healthy.
Eating seared steaks with dark crusts is not exactly super healthy. Eating food made in seasoned carbon steel pans with old burnt in polymerised oil particles isn’t super healthy either, I think. And yes there are small burnt in oil particles going into the food we make in carbon steel pans whether we like it or not.
I doubt that cooking in carbon steel pans is more healthy than cooking in non stick pans. I seriously doubt it.
No studies have been made on this subject.
I cook in both carbon steel pans and ceramic non stick pans on a regular basis. But I’m not naive like some carbon steel pan users are, who thinks it’s 100% safe to cook on an old oil polymerised burnt in surface.
My family eats out a lot and so I’m pretty sure we are exposed to high fat, non-organic ingredients cooked in controversial cookware (nonstick, bare aluminum, etc). But I can’t control what they cook with in the restaurant kitchens.
I also don’t like eating out of plastic, even if it’s safe. Heated plastic gives an odor I don’t appreciate and heated nonstick gives a similar odor to me.
Health is important and probably all cookware is ~mostly~ healthy.
But I’m not ok with forever chemicals, neither in my body nor in our water supply and soil. Also not ok with the environmental harm generated in the manufacturing process in addition to the use of pans in the kitchen.
Therefore, I try not to consume nonstick cookware.
But again, I do not aim to debate or persuade. Others are at liberty to choose for themselves and I trust the intelligence of my companions here.
I’m simply looking for a (preferably drawer style) air fryer with an interior that lacks plastic and nonstick coating. I don’t want heated plastic or heated nonstick involved in the cooking chamber, even if it doesn’t come in contact with the food.
